At the crossroad of Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa, the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, Morocco is a key partner of our three institutions; the African Development Bank (AfDB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB). Morocco is rich in history and tradition, economic and human resources. The emergence of a dynamic and broad-based private sector can become a powerful driver of job creation, social inclusion and economic resilience. This is all the more important in the wake of an unprecedented crisis that has hit the world economy with no exceptions.

Promoting a thriving private sector requires a thorough understanding of the key determinants of firm performance. The AfDB, EBRD and EIB have joined forces to provide answers to the following questions: what are the challenges they face? How to make the most of potential they have? What are the necessary measures to shape a supportive business environment? What is the role of development partners?

This report presents the results of a country diagnostic joint mission, months of exchanges of views and common research efforts, leading to a shared assessment that on the one hand capitalises on our already vast expertise on the ground and, on the other, lays an even stronger analytical foundation for our continued engagement in Morocco.

The main findings of the report are that greater economic and financial diversification, deeper integration in global value chains, notably in Sub-Saharan Africa, and participation of more (and smaller) firms in all sectors of the private economy remain crucial going forward to ensure more inclusive and resilient growth in Morocco. Large state-owned enterprises still represent one of the main engines of growth. It is therefore key to foster private sector development. Addressing regional disparities will also be instrumental in this respect.

The AfDB, EBRD and EIB remain committed to supporting private sector development and look forward to continuing working with the Moroccan authorities and the private sector, each institution according to its own strategy and remit, and in partnership with local stakeholders and civil society.

https://www.afdb.org/sites/default/files/2021/09/23/rapport_private_sector_22-09-2021_en_francaisre_compressed.pdf

https://www.ebrd.com/publications/country-diagnostics/morocco-Joint-EBRD-EIB-AfDB.pdf

https://www.eib.org/fr/publications/private-sector-development-in-morocco-covid19

June 10-11, 2020, webinar

June 10-11, 2020, webinar on Using Country Diagostics to Inform the COVID-19 Response, hosted by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida)

What role can country analytics and diagnostics play in the COVID-19 response? What kind of tools and indices are useful for COVID-sensitive analyses? How can partnership among development institutions facilitate knowledge exchange and coordination for the COVID analyses and response?

These questions motivated a recent event titled “Using Country Diagnostics to Inform the COVID-19 Response.” The event was organized by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), in collaboration with other members of the Country Diagnostic Platform: the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the African Development Bank (AfDB), UK Department for International Development (DfID), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Bank (EIB), International Finance Corporation (IFC), Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), United Nation Development Programme (UNDP), and the World Bank (WB).

The event aimed to showcase how IFIs and bilateral donors have conducted COVID-sensitive analyses and adjusted their operations accordingly; the implications for country diagnostics and analytics conducted by member institutions, how to look at short-term and medium-term constraints and priorities, and the methodologies used in the analyses and share lessons on methods, process, and impact; and discuss ways forward to strengthen the use of diagnostics in informing the COVID-19 response. What kind of tools and indices are useful? Are there any overall conclusions related to the response or analytical challenges? How can high frequency data, ad hoc surveys, big data and simulations be used to provide regular updates to diagnostics and the policy response at the time of the crisis? How are agencies dealing with new risk profiles from reduced information flow (for due diligence work, monitoring, and evaluation for example)? What are the challenges to measure this uncertainty and how is contingency planning affected?

The event featured panel discussions with Carolina Sanchez, Global Director, Poverty and Equity Global Practice, The World Bank, Beata Javorcik, Chief Economist, EBRD, and Jan Rieländer, Head of Multi-dimensional Country Reviews, OECD Development Centre and introductory remarks by Sida’s Director General Carin Jämtin. The rich discussions demonstrated the relevance of country diagnostics for identifying structural weaknesses and binding constraints in order to develop relevant response to the crisis.

Green growth, digitalisation and social protection are special elements highlighted in the discussion to emphasise in our response to the crisis but also gender equality issues, new target groups with new poor and how this effects the design of policies. The timing of the response in terms of protection phase and stimulus phase and the exit strategy for the response was also highlighted in the discussion. Lastly, the crisis has created not only challenges but also opportunities when it comes to green growth, remote work, and digitalisation for building a sustainable development.

The event allowed for further coordination and learning across institutions, including all current members of the Country Diagnostic Platform.

As a part of a joint country diagnostics project, experts on Lebanon from both institutions collaborated to assess the state of play and the main challenges that need to be addressed to stimulate private sector development and investment activity in Lebanon.

See more here.